The Average Week
by Rosabell
Summary: A year after events in Shadowdance. An average week in the life of a thunderspeaker among waterspeakers.Schoolwork, martial artswork, magic work, parties with dragons underwater,an annoyed Sakura, Yue, and Eriol after not calling them for two weeks...
1. Sunday

The Average Week

The Average Week

Sunday

_9:00 AM_

The children, for once, were up before the adults. Chul passed through the living room to the dining room where the rest of the adults were. The children were crowded in front of the two television sets that, nowadays, probably only work because Syaoran was present. Originally, Chul had been a little concerned that forcing Syaoran to input electrical energy and light energy, even when he was not the one using whatever he was running, would drain him, but it became apparent that thunderspeakers are ridiculously powerful in every manner. Syaoran did not even have to think to turn on the television, and in fact could even practice his elemental control while running the lights at night.

He paused halfway across the living room, curious. Syaoran was actually the one holding the controller; the others were all simply watching him play. This was very odd.

" You play videogames?" Chul remarked, catching the attention of everyone except Syaoran. The boy had gotten comfortable enough to act almost like a normal son. The only thing that was not normal is that they have not had a quarrel yet. Chul had a feeling it was more because Syaoran was afraid of shocking him. Electrically. " I didn't know you play videogames."

" Do I look like I'm the type of person who plays videogames?" Syaoran remarked dryly. Indeed, Chul had to admit, Syaoran did not have that kind of personality that would accept something like videogames. " I'm playing because apparently this kind of thing comes with practice or something."

The kids around him laughed. Chul leaned over the couch. " What do you mean?"

" Watch this," One of the boys told him, " He's starting over for the tenth time. This is Super Mario. You should see what he does with Smash."

After the words " Start!" stopped flickering, Mario managed to kill two brown things before missing his landing and falling to his death.

" At least you killed one more than you did last time." A girl nudged Syaoran.

" I've seen six-year-old girls who play better than you." One of the boys laughed.

" How long did that take, 10 seconds?"

" Aw come on, you'll never fit in society if you don't at least know how to play Super Mario."

" And Zelda."

" That's alright." Syaoran quipped, handing the controller over to the boy next to him. " If I can't fit in, I'll just shock whoever makes fun of me. In a friendly way, of course."

Leaving the children to their affairs, Chul joined the other waterspeakers in the dining room.

" Ichiro is arriving in Seoul today at one." Ritsuko told Chul. " He wants to know if it's alright for him to visit us."

" Sure." Chul replied, helping himself to some eggs. " Eriol isn't coming with him?"

" Not that I know of. I don't think Eriol particularly cares about German wizards." Ritsuko shrugged. " Besides, it's their mess. They conjured this blue flamingo, and chased it all the way here. They wanted Ichiro's expertise. Since Ichiro once conjured a new virus five years ago, they expected he could deal with this macroscopic problem."

" Blue flamingo?" Another waterspeaker huffed. " What's wrong with a blue flamingo?"

" They don't want it to breed." Ritsuko replied. " Not to mention, this one squirts out water from its mouth. Actual, blue, water. Kind of like a pokemon."

" I see."

" You have mail, by the way." Ritsuko informed Chul. " Dragon Prince wants you over for dinner on Wednesday, I think. He's still mad that you didn't bring Syaoran over last time."

" Syaoran's terrified of going. Salt content is too high in the sea. He doesn't want to accidentally fry the whole ocean."

" Are you worried though?"

" No. Even if he does spark he'd be able to control even that."

" Well the longer you wait the more impatient the prince will get. Remember, I'm sort of the one dealing with him. And the princess. They're holding a banquet for the East King's youngest daughter's birthday. If you're going to refuse at least give me some means to defend myself. They always kill the messenger."

" We're going, we're going." Chul assured her. " After that game of his, I assume." He cocked an eyebrow at the sudden shouts from the other room.

" Super smash brothers." Ritsuko answered his questioning look. " I've listened to it enough times to hear it like that."

Syaoran walked into the dining room. He looked like he was a bit dizzy.

" We're going to see his Highnesses and her highnesses." Chul told him, handing him his own glass of orange juice."

" What?" Syaoran stared at him. " What highnesses?"

" Dragons. You refused to go last week."

" Oh come on!" Syaoran groaned. " They're the scariest things I've ever seen!"

" Not in their human form!" One of the waterspeakers pointed out.

" They're staying in their human form for our sake too."

" What about the tuna?" Syaoran grumbled. " Or the lobsters? And the snails, they look weird even in 'human form'."

" Are you truly frightened by appearances?" Chul asked.

" No." Syaoran folded his arms unhappily after setting down his orange juice.

" Trust me, they'll be honored to see you." Chul assured him, taking a mouthful of congee.

" They'll be honored to see Chul as well. It's a win win. In fact, if you find them scary, they're ten times more scared of you." Ritsuko grinned at him.

" They can be nice if they have to." Another waterspeaker assured him. " And with elementals…they have to."

" That's reassuring." Syaoran complained dryly, snatching a boiled egg.

" Oh, we have to dress in formal attire." Chul reminded him as he left the dining room.

" Oh come on!"

" Why would you have a problem with that?" Chul cocked an eyebrow. " You always wear that robe of yours when you were capturing cards."

" That robe is convenient." Syaoran turned around and huffed. " It allows for free movement and is very comfortable. Going to a social is not as free and not as comfortable."

Chul inclined his head, conceding to his point. " Well you'll eventually have to deal with them. It's about time you start."

Syaoran gave him a long suffering look. " What if I spark?"

" You won't spark."

" But what if I do?"

" I'll insulate it for you." Chul waved him away.

" When are we going again?" Syaoran worried his lower lip as he asked that.

" Wednesday evening."

" I have homework!"

" Go play your videogame."

" I'm not playing!"

Chul snorted in laughter. " Get out of here." With a purposeful blast of vapor, he pushed Syaoran out.

The waterspeakers chuckled quietly at this evidence of Syaoran mingling successfully in their community. Chul shook his head.

" He's too insecure." Chul muttered. " I wonder why though. From Yue's account, he used to be pretty confident of his abilities."

" He was confident of his abilities to use what he had." Ritsuko replied. " He's not confident of what he has now. It seems every day he comes up with something more outrageous."

Chul recalled a microwave incident, when Syaoran decided it was a good idea to try to broadcast radio songs to everyone, and the radio waves went through the microwave oven while one of the adults was heating leftover soup.

" Ugh." He exhaled.

" Your son." One of the waterspeakers pointed out.

" Yeah." Chul nodded in mock resignation.

oO

_10:30 AM_

After about an hour of videogames, the group of children headed outside. It was autumn, and the trees were beautifully colored, with vibrant reds and oranges and browns. Syaoran wore a simple white robe for waterspeakers, with his chou wrapped around his waist.

" Argh, I have so much homework to do," Syaoran complained, " I swear if I see another one of those algebra questions I'm going to tear that textbook into pieces."

" That's what you get for getting into an honor's class."

" Wait, you didn't finish it yet?"

" Nope. Procrastinated." Syaoran kicked at a stone. " That, and exploded a microwave."

The children started sniggering.

" I can't believe Abuji is okay with me going to see the Dragon King." Syaoran smacked his forehead into his hand as he walked. " I'll fry everyone, and Nezha's going to kill me, among other things."

" You won't fry everyone," A tall waterspeaker laughed, " You'll be just fine."

Syaoran tossed her a doubtful glance.

" How about we play a little bit of water volleyball?" A teenager suggested.

" Oh come on!" Syaoran complained. " I don't want to be stuck as referee again!"

" You can use your sorcery."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. " It's nowhere as efficient as yours."

" Come on, you'll have to practice sorcery magic too, since you're half sorcerer."

" Ugh!"

Water volleyball was the same as regular volleyball, except for waterspeakers, instead of hitting the ball with their hands, they hit it with water that pushed the ball back up again. The same rules applied: They were not allowed to wrap the magic around the ball, nor hold on to the ball for too long a time. To ensure this, as a ball they used an ice sphere, and everyone had to use hot water. If the ball cracks, which would happen if anything other than water hit it, the team responsible loses. If the ball melts, which is usually due to long exposure to hot water, the team also loses. The game ends when the ball melts completely and people count the points. Since only waterspeakers could have quick enough reflexes for this, Syaoran found himself refereeing, and, when he became annoyed enough, causing trouble by using his chou and scaring everyone so the ice sphere crashes onto the ground and the game ends. This earned him a lot of friendly glares, but being a referee really was too boring so they gave him a break for that.

oO

_2:02 PM_

Everyone went back inside, drenched.

" Go change, " Ritsuko ordered everyone when she took in their state, " I won't have you in the dining room like this."

Syaoran, being the only one not drenched, decided to help himself to some food first. He sat at his usual spot next to another waterspeaker. Before, when Lee Senyan had been a threat, Syaoran had sat uncomfortably right next to Chul where the Water Lord could keep an eye on him. Though no one gave him much trouble for it, his seat felt badly misplaced. Once Lee was gone, however, Syaoran had eagerly chosen to sit with the rest of the young elementals. On weekdays, usually this meant sitting at an entirely separate table, since there were so many. On weekends, however, the tables were joined, with the children sitting further down and Chul sitting at the head of the table. Chul was a little put out, at first, until Ritsuko scolded him and pointed out that Syaoran was actually doing the right thing. The two made up for the separation by having a lot of snacks together interspersed with practice.

" Where's my dad?" He asked, when he realized Chul was not in the dining room.

" Upstairs in the library. Pass the salt?"

Syaoran handed the waterspeaker the salt. " Is he _still _mad about the microwave? It was just one microwave!"

" He's not mad dear," The other waterspeakers assured him kindly, " He's just reading up on light and theory. He's got like five textbooks up there already and he's just studying them to get a better idea of what you can do."

" Oh." Syaoran took a mouthful of rice. " That's my job." He muttered.

" He's got nothing better to do."

" Well, it's time to eat anyway." With a flash, Syaoran disappeared.

" Whoa!"

Ritsuko laughed. " Wait for it…"

_Thump. _" Ow!" Came a cry from upstairs.

" Go figure."

oO

_2:11 PM_

" After yesterday you still have the guts to do that?" Chul chided mildly as he helped Syaoran to his feet.

" It was a spur of a moment thing." Syaoran muttered.

" You seem to be doing that a lot lately." Chul observed. " Is everything alright at school?"

" Yeah."

" Things going well with the other waterspeakers?"

" Yeah."

" Things going well with other speakers?"

" Yes!" Syaoran crossed his arms. " I'm fine! I just finally mastered this ability to move and now it's going all weird again!"

" You just need practice. Be more careful next time. What are you up here for?"

" It's lunch time."

Silence.

" Abuji…" Syaoran glared.

" Sorry." It was Chul's turn to fold his arms defensively. " But I was doing some intense reading."

" Come on," Syaoran took Chul by the hand and dragged. " Did you learn anything new?"

" Nope."

" Thought not."

oO

_2:17 PM_

Lunch, with some idle chatter.

oO

_2:43 PM_

Korean dramas, because the teenagers insisted. Syaoran annoyed them by interrupting the shows with various Australian commercials and footage of frogs.

oO

_3:15 PM_

Group homework.

oO

_5:04 PM_

" Xiaolang! Phone for you!"

" Huh?" Syaoran accepted the phone. " Uh, hello?"

" Syaoran-san!" Yamazaki laughed. " Hey, how are you doing?"

" Hi Takashi-san. I'm doing bogus homework. What about you?"

" Oh you're doing homework?" Yamazaki then gasped. " You, doing homework, on a Sunday? Don't tell me, don't tell me, Mr. Punctual procrastinated!"

" Hey," Syaoran scowled, " I'm allowed to leave things for the last day on occasion."

" What happened? Who are you and what have you done with Syaoran?"

Syaoran huffed. " How's everything going? I didn't hear from Sakura last weekend."

" She's been really busy. We all have been, otherwise we'd have called you. Three tests this week, plus a paper due in Japanese."

" Oh. How'd it go?"

" I don't know about Sakura. She seemed to be all frustrated with math, as always. I thought it was alright, but I'm not going to jinx myself. What's up with you? You never called us either."

" Oh, been busy too." Syaoran did not really want to reveal just how much trouble he had caused that week.

" Did you get that radio wave control down?"

" Er…"

" Make sure you don't go near a microwave for that. I heard that if you put a radio inside a microwave and turn it on…bad things will happen."

" Y…yeah…" Syaoran scowled. Of all the times Yamazaki had to tell him a true story, it had to be after he already caused bad things to happen.

" What's up? You're being quiet today."

" Oh. I'm working on homework."

" Oh. Gomen. Didn't realize. You should have said!"

" Well I'm almost done, though it's pretty involving. But it was nice to hear from you."

" When are you coming over?" Yamazaki asked. " Yue said you were coming over soon."

" Probably later on." Syaoran replied. " Midterms coming up."

" Oh come on! What's it, like, two seconds to stop over for tea?"

" For me, yeah, but Chul usually wants to accompany me, and he takes a bit longer, especially now that the weather's getting cold. And since he takes longer I have to fly."

" Come on, you've been living on your own for two years before, surely he wouldn't mind you dropping by on your own."

Syaoran hesitated. " Iie, I think I like having a chaperone."

" Oh fine," Yamazaki huffed, " But in that case you better talk to Sakura-chan. Here,"

Syaoran, dismayed, waited until he heard Sakura's voice on the phone. " Syaoran-kun—"

" Hai, er, give me ten seconds. Iie, make that ten minutes. I promise I'll call you back."

" Were you in the middle of something?"

" Kind of. Homework. I'm almost done, but, well, I want to get it done."

" Oh! Hoe! Of course," Sakura stammered, " Gomen nasai…Takashi-kun didn't tell me—"

" I know," Syaoran laughed. " It's okay, Sakura. I'll call you back in ten minutes. Or fifteen minutes."

" How close are you to getting done?"

" Ano…I don't know."

" Oh, well call me whenever you like, but if you don't call me before nine, Li Syaoran…"

Syaoran covered the phone to snigger. " Hai, Kinomoto-san. I promise I'll call you. I give you my word as a thunderspeaker."

" I don't even know how much that's worth!" Sakura chuckled. " Talk to you later."

" Ja ne."

Syaoran tossed the phone back to its receiver, earning him some looks of disapproval by the adults, who then rolled their eyes at him and went about their business.

" Li Xiaolang, knows all eight million languages of the universe, and don't forget ward of the great Water Lord Park Chul. We're looking at a very real danger of a world-domination maniac here."

" You go dominate the world." Syaoran returned, having heard this joke many times already. " I'll settle for anything you missed."

" Hey, I don't see the appeal. But look at what you're doing. First you demonstrate the ability to control all forms of photons and waves, then you get Lord Chul to agree to your every whim—"

" Hey, that's not true! He grounded me two weeks ago."

" Well duh, you went with Nezha to Mars."

" It's not like I had any choice." Syaoran scowled. " He dragged me into it. He's a trickster god, remember."

" Yeah yeah, well in any case that actually matters, the most powerful elemental and hence magical being is on your side, in addition to having a Trickster God and Father of Firespeakers ready to swing his Cosmic Ring for your safety. Then you get a Card Mistress for a girlfriend—"

" She's not my girlfriend." Syaoran replied sourly.

" Maybe she's waiting for the right moment." The Korean girls sniggered.

" What's there to wait for?" Syaoran cocked an eyebrow. " She probably has a boyfriend by now."

" Sure, she'd get herself a boyfriend and not tell you, the guy she calls every weekend without fail if you don't call her—"

" Except for last weekend—"

" Well we're all not like Mr. Punctual, are we."

" Who says I'm Mr. Punctual?" Syaoran scowled even deeper.

" And I'm sure her imaginary boyfriend is perfectly alright with his girlfriend calling her dear friend a thunderspeaker all the way in Korea and spending all that long-distance money in order to say hello to you. Gee, Japanese mortals are so chill."

" Yeah, he's totally okay with her having a magical card created especially for you."

" It was not!"

" Love Card!" The children sang, " Love card love card love card—"

" Hey!" Syaoran broke them off, turning a deep red, " I promised her I'd call back in ten or fifteen minutes, so let's get to work, alright?"

The children sniggered but they were quieting, casting each other meaningful glances and winking at Syaoran, who turned even more crimson.

" How'd you do number eighty-three?"

" Which one?"

" The fat polynomial…"

oO

_5:30 PM_

" You exploded a microwave?"

" Did you have to announce it to everyone?" Syaoran exclaimed.

From behind Sakura, Syaoran heard Yukito and Touya laughing. Someone was coughing though.

" Kero-chan, are you okay?" Syaoran heard Sakura ask.

" Hey gaki," Touya called over, " Don't go around messing with X-rays, yeah?"

" You're giving him ideas, you realize," Yukito pointed out.

" Huh?" Syaoran blinked.

" Hoe?" Sakura exclaimed, " What are you talking about, Oni-chan?"

" Forget about it." Yukito assured Sakura. " Go on talking to Syaoran. You kids haven't talked for two weeks."

" Hoe!" Sakura exclaimed again, but did as Yukito suggested. " So how many mishaps does that make?"

" I lost count after the seventieth one."

" Was Chul mad?"

" Well, he wasn't exactly ecstatic. Luckily Myun, who was using the microwave, was all the way in the yard before the radiowaves went through it."

" Did you get in trouble?"

" I'm just glad I didn't kill anyone." Syaoran rolled his eyes. " Although Chul didn't punish me for that. Radiowaves are hard. They're so big."

" Well be careful."

" When am I not?"

" Well be more careful." Sakura laughed. " When are you going to visit?"

" Looks like during break."

" That much work?"

" I can't wait to go to college. I heard all you do is slack off and then you graduate and everyone wants to hire you."

" That's in Tokyo University."

" That's in any good college." Syaoran rolled his eyes. " Although now grad school's becoming more of a thing."

" Oh my god, middle school evaluation exams," Sakura let out a strange groan, " Got to study for those again."

" Hm."

oO

_6:30 PM_

Dinner, with everyone.

oO

_7:43 PM_

" I hate House of Flying Daggers!"

" But it's so pretty!" The girl protested as she inserted the DVD into the player. Syaoran groaned.

" I'd take your cheap Korean dramas!"

" Hey, we don't watch movies to get a good story. We watch them in order to stare at the guys."

" And Zhang Ziyi is _hot._"

" Ew, gross, didn't need to hear that," One of the younger girls grimaced.

" It's plot twists are even worse than YuGiOh's," Syaoran scowled, but he joined the group in front of the large-screen television.

" No, YuGiOh is definitely worse."

" I second that."

" The dancing scene is really awesome."

Syaoran had to agree.

oO

_9:50 PM_

" Good night Xiaolang." Chul helped Syaoran turn off the lights. " Is your alarm on?"

" Yes Abuji." Syaoran mumbled, not even bothering to look up. " I turned it on this morning."

Chul smiled. Syaoran did not always call him Abuji, but he called him that frequently enough, and each time it sent a thrill through his heart.

" Even if his alarm isn't on," One of the boys complained, " I've got mine on."

" Reason we got up before you." Syaoran added dryly. Someone threw a pillow at the other boy, who complained and threw it back.

Chul laughed and closed the door.


	2. Monday

The Average Week

The Average Week

Monday

_7:30 AM_

" Where's Byung?"

" Still getting dressed."

" Byung!" Syaoran called up. " You're gonna be late!"

" I'm coming!" A call came from upstairs.

Syaoran grabbed an apple. " I'm so sleepy." He muttered. Chul patted his head.

oO

_7:34 AM_

" What happened to my shoes?"

" Get my coat over there!"

" Ow! That's my foot!"

Syaoran was already out the door, munching on his last apple. " Hurry up guys!"

" We are, Mr. Punctual!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes, and kicked at the rocks to pass the time while waiting.

Finally, the waterspeakers caught up with him, straightening their jackets, and the group started heading to school.

oO

_8:05 AM_

Physical Science.

" Even if I am lifting an object that weighs a ton, if I don't move it I am not doing any work. And, if I'm lifting a heavy stack of books and I'm not moving up, I'm still not doing any work…"

_We went over this on Friday._

_Wake me up if he says anything new._

_Hey, _Syaoran frowned, _I want to sleep too._

_Mr. Perfect wants to sleep?_

_That's getting very annoying. _Syaoran complained. _Seriously. I'm not trying to be perfect or make fun of you guys at all._

_We weren't saying that._ Came the amused reply.

Syaoran huffed under his breath and began paying attention to the teacher, in case he said something new.

oO

_9:02 AM_

Korean History.

" During the Three Kingdoms Period, the first kingdom founded was Goguryeo in the north, which was also the largest of the three, in 37 BC by Dongmyeongseongwang. This guy's very well known for his archery skills, so much so that his own sons were actually jealous of him. Anyone know the story of how he crossed the river? Anyone?"

Syaoran raised his hand.

" Yes Xiaolang,"

" A bunch of turtles formed a bridge for him?"

" Yes, among other creatures in the water. However he _really _crossed the water, he nevertheless came to Go Museo Dangun of Jolbon, which was previously Bukbuyeo. Anyone remember Bukbuyeo?"

There was a somewhat dull chorus of " yes"s.

Syaoran released a sigh.

_I want to go home and sleep. _He complained. _She's fun, but I'm sleepy._

_Sleep during lunch._

_Good idea._

_You're not going to do it, are you. You say that every time._

_Well it's so noisy anyway._

_Yeah, guess so._

oO

_10:15 AM_

Math.

" Forget about this." The waterspeaker told Syaoran. " Cover for me. Wake me up when it's time to leave."

" That's not fair." Syaoran hissed back. When she ignored him, he grumbled. " You're so getting it during lunch…"

" As you all know, we have a test next Tuesday! Now I will suggest during these problems I wrote on the board as practice—"

" Darn it." The waterspeaker groaned, sitting up fully. " So not cool."

Syaoran grinned.

oO

_10:56 AM_

English.

" You ready for the test?"

The waterspeaker glared at him. " Go away."

" Hey, I offered to help you study yesterday." Syaoran shrugged.

" You and your billion languages." The other boy grumbled. " I bet you know how to speak cricket. You know how to speak cricket?"

" No idea. I don't think they really speak either." Syaoran replied absent-mindedly.

oO

_11:13 AM_

Exam.

_Syaoran, what's the answer to number six?_

_Dream on, buster._

_Aw come on!_

oO

_12:01 PM_

" I am starving." Syaoran admitted. The elementals made a point of sitting next to other children during lunch instead of each other, since they do enough of that during breakfasts, dinners, and all three meals on weekends. " Four more hours to go. I wish I had grapefruit."

" Grapefruit?" The other student cocked an eyebrow at him. " You're so weird. Do all Chinese like grapefruit?"

" I wouldn't know. There are one point three billion of us."

" Good point."

" Did you hear? They attacked Iraq."

" Oh yeah." Syaoran bit into his sandwich. " Ichiro must be furious."

" Who?"

" This friend of mine. Lives in America."

" Oh. But why would he be mad? They're doing a good thing."

Syaoran refrained from commenting.

" So, did you hear," A boy leaned over to him, " You-Know-Who asked _her _out on a date."

Syaoran nodded. " Yeah, saw him staring off into space during math."

" Did she say yes?"

" Yeah. Why else would he be staring off into space?"

" Boredom, maybe." Syaoran rolled his eyes. " Oh shoot, how many questions do we have tonight?"

" A lot."

" Haha," Another boy sniggered, " What you get for being a nerd."

" Oh be quiet," The other boy snapped playfully. " I think we have twenty questions for the review, but tomorrow we have sixteen questions due."

" Those wouldn't happen to coincide with the review questions would they?"

" Have they ever?"

" I'm going to continue eating." Syaoran bit into his sandwich to make a point.

oO

_1:09 PM_

Gym – Volleyball.

" Stop spiking the ball when it comes over!" Someone yelled. " You're supposed to pass!"

" It makes for a better surprise!"

" It makes for bad control!"

" I like hitting random people!"

" I'll just settle for setting." Syaoran laughed.

oO

_1:54 PM_

Computer Programming – V Python.

Syaoran stared at the screen. " Huh?"

oO

_2:41 PM_

Korean.

" Please read the next three chapters for tomorrow and write a short paragraph answering the questions written on the board."

" The next three chapters are forty pages long!" A student muttered.

" Don't read the whole thing." Syaoran whispered back. " Just read enough to answer the questions."

" I suck at doing that!"

oO

_3:37 PM_

Band.

" Why does my reed keep breaking?" Syaoran complained, holding his mouthpiece.

" You should have chosen the flute."

" Clarinet sounds better."

" Does not."

" Does too."

" Well you have to tolerate that reed."

Syaoran went up to the teacher to ask for another reed.

oO

_4:20 PM_

" Abuji? We're home!" Syaoran called out. He did not really need to, since an explosion of children's voices sounded as soon as they come through the door. It was a mess of young first graders and older seventeen-year-olds. Some of the adults greeted them, then went about their business, which was mostly reading. Chul was nowhere to be seen, but that's alright, because Syaoran will find him soon enough. He needed to finish up his homework quickly so that they can practice, and since this goes for everyone else, the whole group hurried to the lounges to dump their bookbags, before going upstairs to retrieve their laptops.

Upstairs, despite the commotion, Chul was talking to Ichiro about very important matters.

" Sorry about, well, you know, not coming yesterday."

" It's not problem. I totally forgot you were supposed to come."

" Yeah. Well, I hope it's not a big inconvenience that I came today instead of yesterday."

" Not at all. What's the problem?"

" They're having a bit of a fiasco," Ichiro was telling Chul, " They're being very diligent."

" What's been done so far?"

" Well, the windspeakers can't do much, the rogues _are _windspeakers themselves. They started annoying the wizards too, but so far the wizards haven't had any luck, with good reason. All they managed to do was find out that they're increasing in number. Happens to be them who created that blue flamingo. It's apparently supposed to distract people while they…do other matters."

" Huh. That's bizarre. Do you know who the leader is?"

" Not sure. They say he wasn't that powerful, actually, but he surrounded himself with some very powerful windspeakers who are completely devoted to him."

" Any idea where they meet?"

" None. It's probably a safe bet to say, though, it's probably not on ground."

" Or where I can go, either."

" I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

" It's the truth, isn't it."

Ichiro folded his arms. " They need a shocker to get them back to their senses. There's no reason for them to be doing this at all, unless there's some agenda we're not seeing."

" It sounds more like they're just plain out of their minds."

" Well to check, either way, if you can allow some of your waterspeakers to come help us. Perhaps when they attack next we can get a sense of just what kind of rogues we're dealing with."

" We won't be able to heal them." Chul took a brush and dipped the tip in ink. " But I can send some waterspeakers over to see what we can do."

" Thank you, Lord Chul."

Chul wrote out the order and took his seal to stamp it. _Ritsuko._

_Yes?_

_I need you up here._

Ritsuko materialized next to Chul.

" Here." Chul handed the order to her. " Get the people listed. They're going to follow Matt."

" Alright." She disappeared.

Relaxing a little, Ichiro inquired, " How is Syaoran?"

" Didn't you hear?" Chul muttered dryly. " He exploded a microwave oven."

" Oh wow." Ichiro sighed. " What did he do that for?"

" It wasn't a tantrum." Chul sat down, leaning back. " It was purely an accident. One of many accidents we keep getting ever since he came here."

" Ah well, if he doesn't explore, we would never know just what he can do. How did he do it, by the way?"

" He was manipulating radio waves."

Ichiro chuckled. " He'd make a fine leader, Chul. Trust me."

" I know. Though it takes a lot of self-convincing. You should have seen his reaction when he learned about the social on Wednesday."

" What social?"

" The Dragon Prince is having a birthday party for the East Dragon Princess. I think I'm going to have to remind him again."

" He's such a sweet child. What is he worried about? The dragons will adore him."

" He's worried he'll fry them."

" An understandable concern."

" But completely unnecessary. He's been in the water before with other children, and certainly never released any spark there."

" Ah, but the children are a little more immune than actual creatures of the sea. Not to mention if he does fry them, he cannot bring them back to life the way he did the shadowmaster child." Syaoran had, at one point, managed to rescue a stillborn by literally shocking her heart back to life. This happened several months ago, and had been the cause of great delight to everyone who knew Syaoran for obvious reasons. It was from this that people realized what the "passive" aspect of lightning, or light, had been: to create and maintain life.

" You think he should be worried then?"

" I think it's quite endearing that he is. But like you, I am confident of his abilities."

" Hm. I should tell him that."

" By the way, Matt is pretty furious about the whole thing with the rogues and the flamingo, as you can imagine. You may hear from him soon."

" Alright."

oO

_6:31 PM_

Syaoran glanced at his sword. " It's all nicked."

" You're complaining!" The waterspeaker guffawed, gesturing at his chipped spear. " This thing is two months away from breaking completely in half."

" It's too short." Syaoran swung his blade around a little, looking a little nostalgic already. " You think Abuji will be okay with getting me a new one?"

" Are you kidding?" Another waterspeaker blurted.

" Huh?" Syaoran looked over.

" Why don't you ask him after practice?"

" Yeah." Syaoran nodded. He swung it several times, frowning.

" Xiaolang's growing up!" One of the girls ruffled his hair.

" Hey!" Syaoran laughed, smoothing his hair back the best he could.

" Come on everyone!" The instructor yelled, " Drills starting in two minutes. Everyone in line!"

Syaoran followed everyone as they headed to the center of the field with their respective weapons. He felt a little bad; the sword was something from a past he still wanted to cling to. The idea that he was growing out of it made him feel like he was losing another remnant of his old family. Maybe he could find some way to make it bigger. It usually does not work, but maybe he could ask the elves…

oO

_7:33 PM_

He had wanted to say something else. He was not sure what. But whatever it was, it came out as, " Um, Chul, my sword's…er…" And that was that.

Of course, Chul instantly understood what Syaoran wanted. He has been doing that a lot lately, Syaoran reflected. Maybe it was some trick all parents adopt eventually, even if it was later for some than for others. He held out his hand for the blade, and Syaoran handed it over to him. Syaoran shifted from one foot to the other nervously as Chul inspected the blade.

" You want to try to modify it?" Chul asked, in a tone of understanding.

Syaoran nodded.

Chul looked at the sword again. " I can talk to the elves." He said, weighing the small weapon in his hand. A painful feeling churned in his heart. Syaoran is growing up. And Chul only spent barely a year with him. Not for the first time, he wished Syaoran was his own from the beginning. The sword looked incredibly tiny. He slid the blade into its sheath.

" Let's go eat?" Syaoran suggested.

Chul nodded. " Come along."

oO

_7:47 PM_

" You seem awfully down." One of the waterspeakers noted. " What's wrong?"

" Nothing's wrong." Chul glanced over where the children sat. Syaoran could be seen talking animatedly with the others. They were making fun of him, he knew. It was all in good humor, however, so he was not worried.

" Come on," Ritsuko elbowed him in the ribs. " What's going on?"

" Nothing!" Chul scowled. " Why do you people keep insisting something's wrong all of the sudden?"

" Lord Chul is sad because Lord Syaoran is growing up too fast." Someone sniggered. Chul sent a glare his way, but could not bring himself to do more than that.

" He is growing very fast."

" You think he reached puberty yet?"

" A little early for a boy…"

" He's just going to be very tall."

" Haha, Yao Ming,"

" Oh no, if he does become that tall…"

Chul did his best to ignore everyone's excited chatter.

" You really feel that bad?" Ritsuko whispered to him kindly. Chul glared at her.

" Just remember," She pointed out, " You might never have had him at all."

Chul gave her a look. " I never stop thanking the gods for that." He whispered.

" He won't leave you." Ritsuko winked at him. " He's immortal just like you."

_But Sakura is not._ And he's still waiting for her, no matter what he said. Syaoran is much happier now, but Chul knew the boy's heart still longed for an answer and was patiently waiting. He almost wished Sakura would say no. It would spare Syaoran a lot of pain in the future, as she grows old and he stays young. But at the same time, it was her decision as well, and perhaps this one moment of happiness is worth more to Syaoran than an eternity of mere complacency.

_And the reason you fell in love with this child was because of his selfless love for another._ Chul reminded himself. He will have to see how it goes. Yue had agreed, thinking for both the happiness of Sakura and for Syaoran.

" _Syaoran had pointed out to me," _Yue had said in the past, _" Life's greatest fear is love. All other dangers are minor, compared to heartbreak. But one who loves, has the greatest courage."_

And Syaoran was nothing if not brave.

" What are you thinking about?" Ritsuko asked.

" Nothing." Chul reached with his chopsticks over to grab another piece of fish. " I need to pay the elves a visit tomorrow."

" He hopes to keep the sword, huh." A waterspeaker guessed. Elf swords were not very good for elementals or sorcerers. They tend to have a mind of their own, it seemed, in an effort to guide its user. However, as elves were superb craftsmen, it was an obvious choice, who to go to in order to fix a weapon. " It's not just polishing though. You have to make everything bigger."

" It means a lot to him." Chul replied. " Especially with his lasin board destroyed last year. He wants to try what he can. I can't deny him that."

" Toss it here," The sword, even when in its proper form, was about the size of an extra-long dagger, which gave some testament to how small Syaoran was when he was younger. Though impolite to bring a weapon to the table, the waterspeakers had gone from a hierarchy of elementals who happened to live together, to an actual family with both its love and frustrations, so such formality was dropped.

" I don't see how it would work." The waterspeaker replied. " I mean, you can extend it a little, probably, but it's a stretch for the magic. And it's definitely not going to make it for when he's sixteen or seventeen."

_Just three years._ Chul thought. " Well, I plan to do it as often as possible."

Using her water magic, the waterspeaker sent the sword back where Chul had summoned. Everyone continued eating. Chul scowled a little as he thought everyone was being slightly unsupportive of fixing the sword.

" He should get a new one." He heard mutterings. Chul shook his head. Maybe they just did not understand his charge well enough.

oO

_9:00 PM_

" Ichiro was here today?" Syaoran blinked. " Why didn't he stay for dinner?"

" He wasn't just visiting." Chul replied. He was reading some missives. " There was some trouble going on in his area."

" Oh. Is everything alright?"

" Hopefully." Chul tapped the table with his fingertips. " Sit down. I need to finish reading this before we start."

Syaoran laid his head on his arms on the table and waited patiently. Chul dropped the missive on the remaining stack and leaned back, thinking.

" Why don't you start with some warm-ups." Chul suggested as he rose from the chair to pace a little.

Syaoran complied, forming a ball of light in his hands easily and manipulating its shapes and colors, while paying much more attention to his guardian.

Chul felt the stare but ignored it until he thought things through. He sat back down and began writing a missive of his own. Syaoran was hovering the ball of light now and moving it around himself, still changing colors.

Finally, Chul finished. He stood up. " Now let's train you." He smiled fondly. Syaoran grinned.

oO

_10:23 PM_

Syaoran was so tired that he was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. Chul watched as one of the older waterspeakers tucked the covers around the boy. He turned around. It was time for him to go to bed as well. He had some business dealings to do tomorrow.


	3. Tuesday

The Average Week

The Average Week

Tuesday

_7:50 PM_

Matt was giving Ritsuko a lot of trouble, and she told him so.

" I have other stuff to take care of."

" You're the best healer."

" Oh come on!" Ritsuko complained. " You hardly require the best healer. I still have affairs to take care of. No one got hurt badly, in any case."

" Not yet." The frustrated windspeaker returned. " This is much more important than socializing with the dragon royal family.

" I don't deny that." Ritsuko muttered. " But I honestly don't have the personal time, Matt."

Chul poked his head into the room, then, understanding the gist of the conversation, moved back out. He wanted to visit the elves now, so he headed out of the mansion. The children's voices were too far away for him to hear, but as he morphed into his vapor form and sailed high in the air, he could see the group walking and then splitting as they reached their different destinations. He remained above them until Syaoran entered the building.

The elves were very quiet creatures, but they tend to have very loud announcement when it comes to new arrivals. Chul, having taken a rather informal approach despite being leader of the Council, did not give them the courtesy of announcing himself. Endwin, who was some kind of leader of the elves here but Chul never figured out what his title was, exclaimed rather emphatically that Chul's materialization had scared the wits out of them.

" Well I did come for a reason." Chul explained. As he took Syaoran's sword out Endwin started chuckling.

" The little one's, I presume?"

Syaoran had a more interesting first encounter with elves than most other people. For this reason, though there were many young waterspeakers, and most of the elementals who have not joined their elements appear very young to elves, Syaoran was given the honorary title of " the little one". This time, however, the elf was also referring to the size of the weapon.

The elf held out his hand fro the sword. Chul handed it to him. Still chuckling, the elf exclaimed, " This is a good sword. What do you want us to do with this?"

" Can you make it larger?"

" What?" The elf stared at Chul. " This is not _that _good. What, is he getting too big for this?"

" That, but this sword holds sentimental value."

" How so?" The elf studied the sword closely. " These markings—ah." He looked at Chul. " Make it bigger? Why not simply keep it and use another?"

" Is it really that impossible?" Chul asked

" I do not know. It should not." Endwin studied it again. " It was just never done before. No one had reason to. I will go ask."

Endwin moved past Chul. The elven territory was constructed mainly of pavilions and halls that snaked around trees. There was a fresh grace about the area. Chul glanced around him as he followed Endwin even though he had been here many times before.

The elves glanced at Chul as the two of them passed by. Chul ignored the looks.

" Will the little one visit at some point?" Endwin asked. " He has not been here for a while. Tayur kept asking for him."

" Schoolwork has been keeping him busy. He has not even visited Tomoeda for over a year."

" Ah. How is he doing in school?"

" Fairly well, last I checked."

They arrived at the elven smith's pavilion. The smiths were sharpening the weapons. They looked up as Endwin arrived. Endwin explained to them in elvish, while Chul looked around him again. He recalled again they were supposed to go to the dragon party the next evening. He had to remind Syaoran of that.

" It would be difficult. The magic would be less concentrated and the it would not work properly."

" Can we enhance the magic then?"

The elf was shaking his head. " We would need an additional input of magic from the Li clan."

Endwin turned to Chul. " Does your son know how to charge weapons?"

" I actually have no idea." Chul admitted. " This never came up."

" If he can I can definitely make this bigger." The smith told Chul. " There will be some modifications, but I can definitely make this bigger for your little one."

Chul smirked a little as he took the sword back. Endwin burst out laughing again. " This is too endearing." The elf remarked.

Chul agreed.

oO

_9:00 PM_

" I said already, he is not here. Call back in an hour." Ritsuko hung up. " No one waits these days!"

" Blame it on internet." One of the waterspeakers quipped.

" If I recall correctly, they were never that good about waiting." Another one pointed out.

Ritsuko huffed. " So much for that. I hope Chul returns soon."

" What do they want now?"

" Call to early Council. Chul's probably going to actually have to call for one this time."

" Hm. That sucks."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. " As if that would solve anything. With the demands of where the council is located this year, all that nonsense. By the time the council date and location is set, the issue has already been resolved."

" I think that would be too optimistic."

" Yeah, if they actually resolve any issue by themselves, it would be like Syaoran suddenly found out in addition to having the powers of lightning and light, he also had the powers of lord knows what."

" He already has the powers of lord knows what. What more would you want?"

" Not much more."

Chul arrived home.

" Hi Chul." Ritsuko greeted. " What did they say?"

" They said if Syaoran can charge the weapon with the magic of the Li clan then it should be no problem."

" Can he?"

" I actually have no idea. I think he should. He seemed to have received extensive training in magic."

" Huh. I guess we'll learn for sure later this afternoon when he comes home."'" If you want to know in a hurry I can drop by during his lunch time." One waterspeaker offered.

" I don't think it's that urgent." Chul looked at Ritsuko. " You seem in bright spirits."

" They want an early Council."

" Again? What is it this time?"

" Matt's bandits."

Chul sat down on the sofa. " Well, how badly do they want it?"

" Bad. What do you think."

" Then I'll call for an early Council. Type it up and I'll sign them."

" Seriously?"

" Well, we'll make it specific. We'll locate it sufficiently far away from Seoul. How about in the Himalaya Mountains."

" Day?"

" In two weeks."

" Tuesday after next then. Syaoran would be thrilled."

" Well, if this is an early Council, it's not a normal gathering. Only the influential folks will be there. And it will end as soon as possible. He'd still have the summer gathering."

" He'd be really upset that you're not here though."

" Ah well." Chul waved it off. " What can we do. If we must have an early council we have to call one."

Ritsuko muttered under her breath. " Well I guess there's nothing to it then to write it up."

Chul reclined on the sofa when Ritsuko left. " So much for being thrilled. He still has tomorrow to worry about."

" Dragon prince's party, huh."

" Wonder what has him so on edge. He's not _that _bad with his magic."

" Ah well." Chul shrugged. " He has to go. He'll learn and be more self confident."

" I think it's very cute how he's so nervous." One waterspeaker opined.

" Don't tell him that."

Several minutes later, Ritsuko misted back down.

" We can ask Syaoran to make magical copies when he gets back."

" Thank god for Syaoran, half elemental half magician. Just what does that make him, the most powerful being since the Jade Emperor?"

" Probably." Chul replied absently. He was reading over Ritsuko's sheet. " Oh, I have to remember to bring yak beef back. Syaoran loves those. Might as well treat him to some."

" I think he wanted a yak itself, last time."

" He enjoyed the beef. I'd know."

" No kidding! That whole bagful of jerky he ate in about an hour! If he were human he'd have dysentery!"

" Congratulations on replacing chocolate as his favorite dish,"

" Hopefully it ends quickly. In fact, why don't you add time constraint." Chul asked Ritsuko. " Four days."

" You think you can settle things in four days?"

" Would it help if I bring out my Water Lord staff? Most of the time they're wasting my time tossing insults to each other. I have an excuse to frighten them into submission."

" Well, it's your Council." Ritsuko frowned. " Four days is a bit short. How about five?"

" Just give it a reasonable time constraint."

Suddenly there was a loud thump and lots of chirping.

" What possesses these birds to come in here all the time?" Chul cocked an eyebrow.

" Building nests?"

" At this time of the year?"

As the waterspeakers coaxed the bird back outside, Ritsuko headed back to revise the declaration.

" By the way," A waterspeaker reminded Chul, " You have to pay a visit to the Earth Lord."

" Crud!" Chul groaned. " I remember."

" What time do you have to leave?"

Chul glanced at the clock. " In about half an hour. He's down in Hawaii, so the trip should be fast."

oO

_10:09 AM_

Syaoran was talking to a Korean classmate.

" They're usually decent about it though," He was saying. " You think they'd bother with this?"

" I don't know." The girl replied. " Last time my sister tried out, they made a big deal about how she isn't qualified, even when she got special permission."

" That's because she went to a special competition." Syaoran remarked knowingly. " If you go to an international competition they're a lot less fussy about that sort of thing."

" What competition?" A waterspeaker asked.

" Music." Syaoran replied. " Dae's sister plays cello."

" Ah. Is it string or cello competition?"

" String."

" Ah. She's not going to win."

Dae laughed. " Yeah…we figured that too. Stupid violinists."

" I don't get it though." Syaoran continued. " Why did your parents let your sister go to music school and not you?"

" My sister got dragged to music school." Dae shrugged. " She had talent. I didn't. What can I say? Sucks for her."

" Not necessarily."

" Yeah, well, she does have an excuse to dress up all the time, and people are always exclaiming how good of a cellist she is. But I heard it's pretty rotten in that society."

" Yeah." The waterspeakers muttered dryly. " Well, at least neither of you are actresses."

" Syaoran, you better ask the teacher if he can give you everything today." One student reminded Syaoran.

" Huh? Why?"

" Um, tomorrow? You're not exactly going to, uh, do anything."

" Crud! The Dr—ugh! Why did they choose Wednesday? Why couldn't they have done it on a weekend?"

" Uh, because what's the person's birthday is tomorrow?"

" Oh my god I'm going to fry them all and Chul's going to be so mad!"

Dae raised her eyebrows. " I don't think your dad would be mad over something as silly as that." She remarked, remembering how affectionate Chul always seemed to be for Syaoran. Not to mention she had no idea what Syaoran meant by frying.

Knowing she misunderstood, Syaoran just mock-sobbed. " So much for me starting my career on a good note."

" Relax." The waterspeakers laughed. " You'll be fine. Good grief, you think Chul would let you try if you couldn't do it?"

" Class, quiet down now," The teacher came in, " Now, let's begin."

Everyone gave him their attention.

oO

_4:23 PM_

" Abuji!" Syaoran called out.

" He's not here." The adults told Syaoran. " Went to see the Earth Lord."

" Syaoran!" Ritsuko walked up to the boy, " I need you to help me with something."

" Um, can I take off my shoes first?"

After taking off his shoes and hanging up his coat, Syaoran followed Ritsuko to the offices. Ritsuko waved the declaration at Syaoran. " Need you to make about 40 copies of these."

Syaoran blinked. " 40? Haven't you heard of a Xerox machine?"

" Well," Ritsuko showed Chul's seal, " Take a look at this."

Syaoran read the declaration. " He's calling for an early Council?"

" Yup."

" Is it really that bad?"

" Yup."

" Huh. I guess they'd want authentic copies huh." Syaoran took the sheet over. " Ugh. I can't switch to Chinese. Give me a minute." He collected himself and prepared to incant. The papers duplicated to two, to four, to eight, to sixteen, and to thirty-two. He took eight out and duplicated that to sixteen, giving Ritsuko forty sheets of written signatures.

" Maybe you should just make a stamp with both his seal _and _his signature."

" Why bother? That takes work."

Syaoran laughed. " Is that all?"

" Oh. Chul wants to know if you can charge weapons."

" Huh? What?"

" You know, for the sword."

" Oh." Syaoran paused. " Well, I know how, but…I don't think I can recharge weapons, if that's what you mean."

" Why?"

" Well, when we recharge we draw upon the entire Li Clan." Syaoran explained. " I can recharge but it would not be the same magic in the sword."

" Oh." Ritsuko looked at him sympathetically.

Syaoran heaved a depressed sigh. " Wonder where all that magic went. It's like poof and they might as well never have existed."

" I'm sure it reemerged somewhere. Probably just not in the form you'd recognize."

" Comforting. Well, I better get started on my homework. I have two days' worth of homework to do."

" Oh, for the party?"

Syaoran left the room. Ritsuko chuckled, straightening her stack of declarations.

oO

_5:01 PM_

" Isn't schoolwork a good excuse not to go?"

oO

_6:24 PM_

" We sent out the declarations." Ritsuko told Chul as he walked into the office. " How did your meeting with the Earth Lord go?"

" We settled some things. I took the opportunity to give him the heads up on the upcoming Council. Did you know he's about to join the element?"

" Really?" Ritsuko stared. " When?"

" Before the year ends."

" Oh wow, that's horrible! Who is going to inherit?"

" Sheeba. She'd do well, I think."

" Well no doubt. But really? He's leaving?"

" Yeah. They are going to hold the passing ceremony in about seven weeks. Syaoran will have to be there this time around."

" Of course." Ritsuko muttered to herself. " Wow. Joining the element. But he has been around for as long as I can remember."

" Hm." Chul started out. " Where's Syaoran?"

" Doing homework. He's skipping out on practice today to get everything finished because of that party for some reason you insisted he's going to."

" He'll live. What did he say about the sword?"

Ritsuko told him.

" I'll go check on him." Chul left.

Syaoran was by himself in the living room, since everyone else was outside in the courtyard. Chul sat down next to him.

" You know it's not good for your back to slouch on the couch while doing homework."

" I'm taking a break."

" You're reading the textbook."

" Well, I'm taking a break from sitting." Syaoran was actually flat-out lying on the couch, a textbook leaning against the back of the sofa.

" It's not good for your eyes."

Syaoran shut the textbook and slid it on the table. Chul folded his legs. " You doing okay?"

" I'm just a little tired."

" You realize that you probably won't be able to have both, you know."

" Just as well." Syaoran muttered. " But there are a lot of friends I don't want to leave yet."

" Of course."

Silence.

" Do I really have to go?"

" What did the dragons ever do to you? Why are you so afraid of meeting them?"

" They're scary."

" Nonsense. They're more scared of you."

" That's even scarier."

Chul slapped Syaoran's leg. " You're being ridiculous."

" Argh!" Syaoran groaned. " Do I really have to take over as Chair? You seem to be doing fine!"

" They're tolerating me for your sake, Syaoran."

" Well, tell them to stop. You're still ten times more powerful than they are."

" That may be." Chul leaned on Syaoran's knee, " But you're still expected to take on the responsibility."

" They can't make me."

" True." Chul replied. " But why are you so against this?"

" They're all a bunch of idiots."

" Yes."

" And they're stubborn jerks."

" Yes."

" Isn't that reason enough?"

" You have to face your destiny, Syaoran." Chul said soothingly. " So far life has dealt you many blows, but there are many destinies worse than yours. Do not complain overmuch."

" I just don't see the point." Syaoran mumbled. " You're immortal. You're doing fine."

" Some things only you can resolve, however." Chul replied. " You're given these powers for a reason. Not just to slouch around."

Syaoran was silent.

" They're not going to give you that much trouble. They gave me trouble because I was out of control. You don't have that problem. In fact, many of them have good impressions of you, not just the dragons. You're getting an easy start. It won't be so bad. And once in a while you scare the idiots into submission. It can be quite satisfying."

Syaoran chuckled. " You would say that." He stretched. " I don't want to work!"

" Then take a break." Chul stood up. " You have your robes and chou?"

" I always wear my chou. I don't know where my robes are."

Chul froze. " You don't know where your robes are."

" They're somewhere, packed. Um, I'll get them out after dinner."

" Dinner's in about an hour."

" Yeah. Right."

Chul gave Syaoran a warning look. " What did you do to your robes."

" Um…"

" Syaoran…"

" Er, I just spilled something on them, that's all, so I gave it to Ritsuko last week." Syaoran grinned. " Can I not go?"

" Syaoran!"

Syaoran cringed.

" You better get it all ready for tomorrow. We're heading to the east ocean as soon as you get home."

" That quick? Why?" Syaoran whined.

oO

_7:37 PM_

" Hey! Move that out of the way! I can't get to the pork!"

" Was it 36 ATP or 38 ATP?"

" So when the bus falls over the cliff, the air above it is traveling at fifty kilometers an hour, while the air inside isn't moving. So you plug into the equation…"

" So you have pulleys, slides, levers, and…what's the fourth way to make work easy?"

" It doesn't matter. You get a net 2 ATP out of glycolysis…"

" And because the air above is traveling faster than the air inside the roof, the air inside the roof exerts a pressure up…"

" You know what just occurred to me?" Chul told Ritsuko as the everyone chattered away.

" What?"

" We have a family of nerds."

" Force times distance."

" The Krebs cycle gives you NADH plus H plus—"

" What's that H plus doing there?"

" Dunno."

" So the next question when Superman goes into free fall…"

" God I failed that test!"

" Now if only they were so focused on their magical training." Ritsuko said dryly. " At least yours does not disappoint."

" He works too hard." Chul looked at Syaoran sympathetically. " Once the party is over, I think this weekend I'm going to take Syaoran to visit Africa."

" To do what?"

" To see the magical zoo."

" Ah…that sounds good, actually. Will you take the other kids?"

" I think I'd make this just the two of us."

" That's great. I know Syaoran kind of wanted that."

" He did?"

" Noooo!" One of the teenagers lamented. " I used the wrong equation! I was using v initial plus 'A' 'T'!"

" It's one half 'A' 'T' squared."

" That was eight points! Eight points! Ahhhh! I'm going to fail physics!"

" Physics." Ritsuko murmured reflectively. " I remember that."

" Never took it." Chul replied absently. " What's physics when you have magic."

He suddenly felt a tingle in his side. It was Syaoran's version of a magical poke. They were not sure if this was something Syaoran could do due to his thunderspeaker powers, or if it was something to do with the parent-child bond that had been growing between Syaoran and Chul ever since the two practically met. Syaoran had decided, ever since he accidentally "poked" Chul the first time, that this was reserved only for his adopted father. He did it every time he felt Chul said something disagreeable, but he also did it simply to annoy Chul.

This time it seemed to be the latter. Chul gave Syaoran a glare, but Syaoran was looking away, grinning. Chul thought about giving Syaoran a poke of his own, but thought better of it.

The phone rang. One of the children picked it up this time.

" Hey, Syaoran, it's your girlfriend."

" She's not my girlfriend!"

" Yeah, sure, we believe that."

Chul always felt a bit confused whenever this happened. As far as he knew, when Sakura left Seoul that fateful night when Lee Senyan was finally forever trapped in a gem her card created, she had told Syaoran she loved him. Syaoran said so himself. But it seemed the boy never did quite believe she loved him romantically, or perhaps was afraid to. He was not certain why. It was not as if Sakura had not done things especially for him. She called him often enough, mailed him gifts, and Syaoran had mailed back. But perhaps there was some hidden agreement that, so long as the two were not at the very least in the same country, they were not officially an item.

" He's having dinner right now!"

" Hey give me that!" Syaoran started up. This time Chul did poke him with a little ice shard in warning.

_Eat your food. You can call back later._

_But Dad!_

" He'll call you in an hour!"

" Twenty minutes!"

" Okay, I'll tell him. She says you better call her, so don't forget."

" I never forgot!" Syaoran returned indignantly. He was grinning though.

_Hm. _Chul thought. _Maybe she should join him at the dragon party…no, that would be inappropriate. If she had not received an invitation, well, she's not invited._

" Sakura and Syaoran! Sakura and Syaoran! Sakura and Syaoran!" The children had teased him so many times everyone else pretty much ignored it.

oO

_8:23 PM_

" Syaoran did you find your robes?"

" Uh…if I didn't does this mean I don't have to go?"

" You might as well find them, Syaoran. Otherwise you'd have to borrow them from someone else."

" Gah…"

oO

_8:45 PM_

" Syaoran did you find your robes?"

" Yes Chul…"

" Good. How's that homework coming along?"

" If I don't finish, does this mean I can't go?"

Chul did not even bother replying.

oO

_9:01 PM_

" We caught the blue flamingo. Ugh, it bred already. Its magical signature is depleted."

" Not our problem." Chul replied absently. " Unless the flamingos come here, of course. But then, you don't want them to come here."

" Of course not." Ichiro scowled. " But would be nice if you can lend us a hand."

" Look," Chul folded his arms, " I'm kind of busy lately. Didn't you get the announcement?"

" Announcement for what?"

" Early Council."

" Whoa." Ichiro stepped back. " Never mind then. That's big."

" I want to get this stupid thing over with." Chul sighed. " Go figure that just when there's some peace and quiet something stirs up. Syaoran is going to be so mad at me."

" Un." Ichiro nodded sympathetically. " Well there goes that, I suppose. If the flamingos turn up in your territory try to kill them."

" There's no trying involved." Chul rolled his eyes. " Wonder what flamingo tastes like."

" That's up to you to find out. I'm off in this case."

" Abuji!" Syaoran came up. " I'm done with the homework." He said a little despondently. " Ichiro-san!" His face lightened up.

" Konbonwa!" Ichiro ruffled Syaoran's hair. " You've grown taller!"

Syaoran grinned. " What are you doing here?"

" He's bird-hunting." Chul waved. " Good luck with that."

" Hai."

As Ichiro left, Chul grumbled to Syaoran, " They bring the most retarded issues to me."

" You're chair." Syaoran laughed.

" Soon you'll be chair." Chul pointed. " And I get to retire."

Syaoran stuck his tongue out at Chul. " By the way, Sakura said that she can't make it to the Council, for obvious reasons."

" Ritsuko sent it to her?" Chul blinked. " Huh. That's strange."

" Well, the metalspeaker database updated her as one of the main Sorceresses." Syaoran replied. " I checked, too. Eriol's been added a long time ago but apparently he managed to block everyone up until now. Can we take her off the database for now?"

" I didn't know she was even on." Chul blinked. " Though it's really up to her. She's a bit young to attend the gathering, like you, but when you two come of age…"

" We can put her on temp." Syaoran suggested. " Doesn't have to be permanent. Not to mention, if you keep her in the database she'd constantly get harassed. Maybe if she's placed in an external list. That way she's aware of what's going on, at least, and when the time comes she's not completely in the dark. Also, speaking of bird-hunting, she told me there was this blue flamingo hanging out in the back yard. They didn't manage to catch it yet but it's still there. Have you ever heard of such a thing?" Syaoran laughed.

Chul slammed his forehead on his desk.


	4. Wednesday

The Average Week

Wednesday

_7:54 AM_

" Someone's looking cheerful today."

" You'll be fine. The most they'll do is attack you with handshakes. And you don't spark at those."

" Yeah, if you can stand up to someone…someone like Yue and Chul. Chul's much more terrifying."

" He is?" Syaoran blinked in the sunlight. He then thought about it for a moment. " I guess you have a point."

Inside Chul was on the phone.

" Why is this my problem?" He demanded. " I told you it was in Tomoeda."

It was not Ichiro on the phone, however. It was Eriol.

" I know it's in Tomoeda." Eriol sounded equally exasperated. " But they want Syaoran to take care of it."

" They want _Syaoran?"_

" It bred, there's no telling which flamingo it was. They want Syaoran to ask the gods."

" And _you _agreed to this?"

" Of course not." Eriol sounded offended. " But until they hear a concrete answer why not, such as, say, Syaoran's father downright refusing, they won't stop harassing _me._"

Being Chair of the Magical Council, Chul was more than familiar with such things. " I am not dealing with this issue. I already gave them a break by calling for an early Council. This is already at the inconvenience of everyone in the Council. If they interrupt one more time, tell them I will remind them that I am Park Chul, and I have other means of silencing them."

" Maybe I can temporarily mute my powers or something." Syaoran was saying as they walked.

" You don't really want to do that…" A waterspeaker said cautiously.

" I do not want Sakura involved." Eriol replied.

" I do not want Syaoran."

" Cheer up." The waterspeakers told Syaoran. " It won't be that bad. Think about it. You get to meet great people. What are we? Chopped liver, as far as they're concerned."

" You guys are waterspeakers." Syaoran replied. " That automatically makes you guys special."

" A hundred and twelve waterspeakers in the world, versus one thunderspeaker. Yeah, that's pretty special."

" Oh come on." Syaoran scowled. " Don't tell me you're jealous."

" Not a chance, mate. We're not stepping into your pot of boiling water."

Laughing, they walked on.

" The flamingoes will have to wait." Chul replied. " Look, I still have to talk to all these people. I don't have a time for a bunch of blue birds."

" I don't either!"

" Well bug someone else. This isn't the type of mischief to be brought to me. I need to take care of other more important issues."

Chul was right about that, and Eriol was forced to admit that if anyone should take this responsibility, however unjustly, the Chairperson of the Council is not the one.

oO

_4:30 PM_

Amazingly, Syaoran was not nearly as anxious about the upcoming birthday party now that he was actually home. The other children, also, did not harass him about the fact that he was invited to the birthday banquet and they were not. Ritsuko helped Syaoran get dressed (and it was a bit of a complicated affair). About half an hour later Chul and Syaoran met up downstairs.

" You alright?" Chul asked, pointing at Syaoran's chou. " You can't wave that thing around too wildly when you're by the ocean, mind you."

" I know." Syaoran scowled. " I'll be careful.

Taking advantage of Chul's levitating mist, Syaoran used his chou to propel himself through the air. It was a beautiful view; whatever pollution might have been caused by its neighbors, Korea was a beautiful land, and the earth was strong enough, so far, that life can still thrive despite the toxins in the environment. They sailed over the glistening sea with the sun setting in the west behind them, the sky slowly darkening to a rainbow of colors that grew redder as it approached the horizon. Chul dipped down to distill the water and Syaoran descended in that area.

The ocean was a dark place, thick with minerals. Chul's magical presences guided and led Syaoran down. From past experience, Chul was able to control the density of the water, and though Syaoran was still tempted to hold his breath, the Water Lord was experienced enough that Syaoran was actually able to breathe underwater. When they were far enough down, Syaoran could see a bright shining light, which looked like a fluorescent bulb that could be any creature, but was actually the lamp marking the entrance to the Dragon Palace.

Chul materialized, and as he did two guards also materialized. Without much question, they bowed low and a pair of large doors shimmered into view, sending a burst of bubbles floating towards the surface.

Chul walked in when the doors opened by themselves, and Syaoran gingerly followed him. He was nervous again. The Li clan had hosted their share of banquets, but there was something to the fact that it was all under water that made everything seem more frightening. Sensing his distress, Chul lifted a hand and rested it on Syaoran's shoulder for a moment. _Remember, they're more afraid of you._

While this had not comforted Syaoran too much before, now it was a great relief to know that he was perhaps more intimidating than the dragons themselves. The hall they walked through was made of coral, and fish zipped back and forth, some pausing curiously to watch them as they passed. Syaoran reached out to poke one of them. Chul let him. Chances were, if one of the fish did happen to be a servant in their real form, they probably would not have the nerve to feel offended anyway, and Syaoran seemed generally amused by their reactions.

As they walked, two more guards appeared in the front, followed by the materialization of another, smaller, set of doors. When these opened, the light illuminated the hall, followed by loud chatter. There were many people gathered at the party already, even human ones, as though the area was all water, the water had been enchanted to people could still breathe. One of the guards entered the large room, announcing, " His Greatness, Lord Chul of the Water Elementals, and Lord Syaoran, the Thunder Elemental."

Chatter almost instantly ceased as Chul and Syaoran entered following this announcement. Syaoran was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he had been called _Lord _Syaoran, when a tall, regal looking young man, dressed in robes, and an older, white-bearded lord with even fancier robes stepped forward. The older man laughed in genuine delight as he approached, stretching his wrinkly hands at Chul. Syaoran could see he had two horns poking out of the elaborate headdress on his head and wondered if this was a demon.

" My lord!" The old man clasped his hands together and bowed in an almost prayer-like fashion, " It is a great honor to have you! A great honor!"

The younger man next to the older lord did likewise.

Chul did not salute them. He merely inclined his head in acknowledgment. " Your Majesty. You are looking well." He said, not unpleasantly, but not warmly either. There was a touch of arrogance in his tone, but Syaoran had a feeling it was necessary.

" Yes, yes! All is well! And this must be the young Lord Syaoran." The Dragon King saluted him as well.

Syaoran, not sure what to do since he was at once facing his elder and his inferior (and also trying hard not to completely fry everyone present by his nervousness), clasped his hands together briefly, the way the King did, but did not bow. It seemed to be appropriate, as no one remarked or acted differently, and Chul did not poke him, magically or otherwise.

The prince (Syaoran assumed he was the prince) also saluted Syaoran, but did not speak. For all the interest Chul had implied, the young man certainly did not seem to be too curious about Syaoran at the moment. It could be that this was not the right prince, but no—Syaoran sensed that the Dragon Prince that had been harassing Chul with invitations was the one standing in front of him. Perhaps it was purely propriety that prevented the prince from showing any intentions.

" What of Her Highness?" Chul inquired. " It is her birthday, I believe?"

" Ah yes. Daughter!" The King turned around. From the crowd of people a young woman stepped out. She looked a little strange—not entirely human, but that was to be expected. She was very beautiful however, and seemed very shy.

" Come welcome our guests, my child." The Dragon King beckoned.

" Yes, Royal Father." She replied, and, gliding over, curtsied low. " Thank you for coming. You honor us with your presence."

" Come." Chul allowed a smile to spread across his face. " Birthdays are always festive occasions. Your Highness, this is my son, Li Syaoran."

Syaoran repeated his earlier gesture, while the princess curtsied. He felt very awkward. His new status as thunderspeaker apparently was of higher rank than he ever anticipated. These deities and spirits that are bowing to him were once deities and spirits he had been bowing and kowtowing to with his mother. It was very bizarre to find himself suddenly their superior.

Luckily, despite being higher status and all, Syaoran was still a child, and children had their own forms of entertainment. While the King and prince spoke to Chul, Syaoran spotted a group of children and, as they were distracted, slipped away to join them.

The children here were as open as the waterspeaker children. They had been clustered tightly in a group, but when he approached they separated to allow him to join.

" Hey guys," Syaoran greeted, noting their robes were as elaborate, if not more elaborate, than his, so he decided to act casual, " What's going on?"

" Wizard's Chinese checkers." One of them replied. " We're also trying to get wizard's Go to work, but that's not coming along as well."

" Why not?" Syaoran asked, curious.

" Because," And obviously, these children were wizards, " With checkers, you drop the marbles in the hole. With Go, we can't seem to get the stone to go on the intersection of the lines."

" Huh?" Syaoran blinked. " Any luck with Chess, then?"

" Yeah, that one was easy. It's just squares."

" Well why don't you shift the grid?"

" What do you mean?"

" I mean, how are you playing wizard's chess?"

" Well we command the space and tell it which square to move to. Columns are letters, rows are numbers, and we just say which column and which row should go to which column and which row."

" Well shift the grid. Make the lines correspond to their coordinates instead. It's simple math."

" Well yeah." The wizards replied patiently, " Except if we do numbers for both columns and rows, it gets confused because it doesn't know which is the row and which is the number, especially since nothing's actually on the board. And if we do letters and numbers, it tries to move to the space."

" Huh?!" Syaoran cocked an eyebrow. " That's the weirdest thing I ever heard."

" You're obviously not a wizard." Another child said wryly. " What are you?"

" Sorcerer."

" Oh, that explains a lot." The kids groaned. " You guys have it easy. Got any spells to use?"

" Uh, I can try—what do you have so far?"

The Dragon King had gone to greet other guests, but the Dragon Prince and his youngest sister remained behind for a moment to speak to Chul. While the King had ultimate power in this kingdom under the sea, the prince was the one who represented the dragons in the Council, hence the invitation from him instead of his father.

" He will be at the Council Gathering, yes?" The Dragon King asked.

" Not this time, no." Chul replied. " This is an early Council Gathering, meant for a slight emergency." He was, in fact, looking intently at the wizards at the party, and trying to determine if they were German, because if they were, and if they were the ones causing the trouble recently, Syaoran was not going to be the one ending the party. Not that Syaoran ever was.

" There was?" The Dragon Prince was surprised. " We never received such notification."

Chul frowned. It could not be Ritsuko. Something was wrong here. " Communications must have been flawed lately." He said. " However, it will be rectified. I would recommend keeping this to yourselves."

A little uneasy, dragon father and son glanced at each other.

Except for the children, many members at the social were in awe of Chul. Mingled among other children, very few noticed Syaoran, or if they did, very few recognized him as Chul's heir. Also, the fact that Syaoran was using little bits of magic (he found, to his chagrin, that his control seemed to have become a little out of practice of late) did not help them realize Syaoran was an elemental. The magic itself was as strong as it had been, but Syaoran found it wore him out much too quickly, despite his light elemental traits boosting his stamina. Soon he was physically too tired to try any more spells.

" You must have had a hard day," The wizards observed, when Syaoran sat down to rest.

" Yeah." Syaoran replied, deciding that was the best excuse he could give, anyway. He was not sure how he felt about his weakened magic. True, he probably should have expected it, having not practiced it much with the waterspeakers, but it had been how long? A year? Should it have gone away that quickly?

He glanced over at Chul, who was in a group, talking to various figureheads. He was suddenly thinking about the first summer, when Lee Senyan had still been around, and Chul had guarded him, day and night, without complaint at all. Never mind that Syaoran himself was Lee's son; Chul had seen past that. And afterwards, especially after that whole trip to the other dimension, where they had seen what had become of Lord Park, Chul had eventually softened his personality. He was a great father, and had such a wealth of knowledge gleaned from his many decades as waterspeaker. Those days when Syaoran had felt alone and lost in the world seem like a distant dream now, but then, so did his family, really. He was starting to forget, already, what his mother's voice sounded like; he had only heard her voice for a year prior, did not feel her presence except through the magical bond, nor seen her features in real life.

Now he never will.

And the magic she gave him was leaving too.

" Ah, there he is," The Prince had returned, his features very amiable as he approached the boy. " Shall we head to the feast?"

_Oh. _Syaoran thought. _The crab people holding refreshments; that's the pre-banquet appetizers. Geez._

He stood. Everyone was starting to stream away from the rooms, and into the main dining hall.

" Syaoran," Chul called, before the Dragon Prince can say any more. Syaoran went over to him after a slight salute to the prince.

" Are you alright?" Chul asked softly, so others would not hear. " You seem depressed."

" I'm okay." Syaoran smiled, thinking this could wait until later. " Let's go."

oO

_7:32 PM_

As Chairperson and Chairperson's son, not to mention the most powerful being in the world, Chul and Syaoran were granted the honor of sitting at the head of the table during the banquet. Back at home at the village, Syaoran did not feel quite so out of place. He mastered things with ease but he was also at ease with his friends, who knew all his secrets, really, since they all lived together, and therefore did not treat him like he was some remarkable rare piece of work. Here, he was suddenly struck with the sense of how important he was going to be, with the respect and cordiality of everyone at the banquet—it was absolutely unnerving, and he did not like it.

The princess, he found, was not entirely happy with the event either. She was constantly asked to show her social skills by interacting with various flattering lords. Syaoran was really happy that Chul decided Syaoran's birthday was to be celebrated as a personal affair; strictly among waterspeakers, and of course, whoever Syaoran himself chose to invite. Actually, he remembered back when the Li Clan would host grand birthday parties for him and he would more often than not, have to show his progress in some way or another.

That part he did not miss.

The children did not notice his absence. There were many of them, and they all talked together, leaving Syaoran feeling a bit left out.

" Why not show Lord Syaoran?" He suddenly heard, and turned around to figure out what the context was. Chul gave him a knowing look.

He tried to appear interested so no one would see his bluff. The princess, while not exactly annoyed, seemed a little impassive to the suggestion as she rose. Chul gave him a light nudge. _It's okay. She'll just show you the gardens. They're quite beautiful, actually._

Well at least his father seems confident.

They left the scene of the banquet and headed down the dark coral halls, illuminated by fluorescent lights. A heavy, awkward silence fell over the two of them. Syaoran kept wondering what to say, but the princess was inscrutable. At length, they finally reached the garden.

It was a garden of anemones, of different water plants, clams, coral, sponges, exotic gems and crystals, everything of all colors and of all shapes and sizes. Seahorses danced among the kelp, urchins dotted the ground, starfish slid over the coral to the sand.

" Wow." Syaoran exclaimed, overcome with wonder. It was wonderful, really. " Living here must be awesome!"

" Indeed." The princess replied. Syaoran turned to her and grinned.

" Less impressed because it belongs to you?" He asked, knowing the feeling.

Seeing his smile, the princess smiled uncertainly as well. " To a degree. They lose their wonder with familiarity."

" I know what you mean." Syaoran nodded. " The Li Clan was like that."

" The Li Clan?" As if just remembering, the princess uttered, " Oh that is right—you are Lord _Li _Syaoran."

Syaoran nodded, turning his attention back to the gorgeous garden.

" I…I am sorry for your loss." The princess said quietly.

It has been a long time since anyone had said that to him. The comment almost took Syaoran by surprise. He turned to her.

" Chul is very kind to me."

" So I can see." She smiled.

Syaoran smiled back, but suddenly a tingling of warning shot up his neck. He whirled around just as he saw a shadow of a figure zipping behind the corals.

" What is it?" The princess asked, noting his sudden movement.

" Is someone supposed to be in the garden?" Syaoran asked.

" No…" The princess blinked, " The servants are all to attend the banquet with the rest…only the gardener comes here out of them all, but I saw the gardener when we left…"

_No, don't use light. Light equals bad, especially in seawater._ They were not allowed to bring weapons to this event, but Syaoran did not need weapons to hold his own sometimes. _If only I still had a good grasp of magic. _He was still worn out from the earlier usage.

Suddenly, they heard a cry. The princess whirled back as something attacked her. She blasted with water magic at the figure while jumping back to where Syaoran stood.

Instinct had Syaoran reaching for his chou, but he quickly dropped the idea. He dashed forward and dove down to get low, rolled to his feet, then slammed his hands into the robed figure. A spurt of blood squirted from the mouth and the attacker stumbled and started floating.

" Guards!" The princess cried, though at this point it was too late—Syaoran knew he had taken care of the assassin, for he felt the heart tremor from the impact and knew that, if he did not outright kill the assassin, he had incapacitated him.

_Syaoran?_ Chul called, sensing the agitation in the water.

_Dad, someone tried to kill the princess._ Syaoran suddenly sat down, a little stunned. _I think I killed him. _He had not even thought about his actions before he did it.

In shock, for a moment Syaoran blanked out. Before he knew it, Chul was there, holding him. " Syaoran, it's alright."

" He's unconscious." Syaoran heard.

" Abuji?" He found his hands were actually trembling.

" It's alright." Chul said quietly. " You did good, son. He's still alive?"

" Very much so."

" He was just there. Lord Syaoran was the first to spot him." The princess was telling her father.

More talk—Syaoran did not register much—it was good to have his father there with him. Everything is going to be fine.

It was different, killing someone in person.

He heard the Dragon King declare their debt to him but again, did not really acknowledge it. Chul murmured in his ear and held him tight.

" I need to take my son home." He told the dragons, who understood. Chul then picked Syaoran up.

" Come on." He told the child. " We're going home. You'll be okay."


End file.
